


Get Set, Go

by WishingOnWhishaw



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Bullying, Coffee Shops, College, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Implied Violence, M/M, Other, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-01-12 15:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1189524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WishingOnWhishaw/pseuds/WishingOnWhishaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where everyone gets their soul mate's initial put on their skin, there's no hiding who you love. Though as they go through life, the boys realise that being destined for a relationship with five other people can land you in some trouble. Their life is a long and bumpy road before them, but they're all stepping up to the mark to face this together.</p>
<p>(Note, this work was removed and is now back up. There have been no changes to the content.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Old Head, Young Shoulders

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally started writing this and this first chapter became a monster. This is literally just snippets of Geoff's life as he's growing up, giving you some back story and all that. More plot is to follow!
> 
> I have no beta reader, just myself as proofreader, so any and all mistakes are my own. Feel free to point them out if you spot some, or offer me constructive criticism. Feedback of any sort is always good and this area of writing is all completely new to me.
> 
> Enjoy!

You get your mark when the oldest half of you turns three, and if your mate has already reached that age, you'll be born with your mark. Because the marks work in this way, it is not surprising to be born without one. It could mean you're the oldest half, or that there is a small age gap between you. Often, mates are of a very similar age, so it's difficult to tell which scenario is true in the instance of unmarked babies. All there is to do is wait.

This was common knowledge, and so it came as no surprise when Geoff Ramsey was born with plain skin, his newborn body yet to have recognised and settled with its idea of a bond. It didn't concern his parents, didn't raise any suspicions. It was just as normal to be plain as it was to be marked upon birth, so for the early years of Geoff's life, nobody worried about him and the situation he was in, because nobody knew it was out of the ordinary.

Geoff's third birthday arrived and his mother checked, looking him over for any sign of his mark, any clue into the identity of her son's mate, but there was nothing there. That was fine. Geoff would be the oldest, then, and whenever his bond was born, he would get his mark. The age gap wasn't that bad, although a lot of people had marks by the time they were three, it still didn't set alarm bells ringing in the head of Geoff's mother. When he played with the kids in his neighbourhood, he wasn't the only one to still be without a mark, and so it didn't bother him all that much. Still, he'd check every night before he went to bed, searching for his mark. When he didn't find it he'd crawl into bed, closing his eyes and imagining everything he could about his younger half. He'd imagine what they looked like, what their names would be, where he would get their mark, what colour it would be. Geoff could never pick one fantasy that he liked best of all, and so every night he'd fall asleep to a different face in his mind, a different name in his head. This continued for the next two years of Geoff's life.  
  


* * *

  
Geoff was now five years old, clutching at his mom's hand as he trudged around the store with her. Occasionally he'd find something that he liked the look of and tug on her arm, begging to be treated to cookies or marshmallows, or whatever it was he wanted. He was just trying to convince her that ice cream was a good idea, even if it was December, when all of a sudden he stopped talking and gave a small yelp in a mixture of surprise and pain.

"Geoff? What is it, are you okay?" She asked hurriedly, rushing to kneel beside her son who had fallen down.

"My leg feels all funny," Geoff grumbled, rubbing at it with a slight pout. "And it hurt, Mama."

"Well what happened?"

"I don't know! It just went all tingly and it burned, but now it just feels funny," Geoff sighed, his brow furrowed as he prodded at his leg, testing. He poked a particularly sore spot and hissed in pain, quickly pulling his hand back again. His mother just watched, a small smile starting to creep onto her face.

"It's okay baby," she soothed, picking Geoff up and carefully putting him down in the shopping cart. "You're okay."

"I am?" he asked, looking up expectantly, awaiting a further explanation. "How'd you know?"

"Because your mate was just born. That was your mark you felt."

The rest of their trip passed by in a blur, during which, Geoff got his ice cream. When they got home Geoff ran inside, getting as quickly as he could up to his bedroom. He needed to see it, wanted to know what it was, to learn everything about it. He pulled off his jeans, careful not hurt the part of his leg that still wasn't feeling right, before getting up and sitting cross-legged on his bed. He looked down into his lap, and there on the inside of his right thigh was the letter R, seared into the skin. The letter was a simple print for now, the bright shade of blue standing out against the surrounding skin, which was currently a little red from the burn. Geoff reached out and traced over the R gingerly, his finger going over the letter gently, as though he were scared it would disappear if he wasn't or if he looked away. He marvelled at it for a few long moments on his own before dashing off out of his room and downstairs.

"Mama, Mama, look!" He called as he ran into the kitchen. His mother laughed fondly as she turned to find Geoff standing there, a huge smile on his face. "Come see it!" At this she nodded and walked over to her little boy, kneeling before him and looking at the spot on his leg to which Geoff was pointing. "Isn't it pretty?"

"It sure is," she agreed, moving to kiss Geoff's head. "Is it still hurting?"

"No, it's okay now," Geoff replied honestly, still looking down at the new addition to his leg.

"Good. Now, how about you go play for a little bit, then we'll have dinner and ice cream."

"Yeah!" The young boy agreed enthusiastically, leaving the room to go back upstairs. Geoff Ramsey was now content in the knowledge that his mate had been born, even if he didn't know anything else about them. However, this feeling wasn't going to last all that long.

* * *

  
Christmas had been and gone, but Geoff was still on winter break. He was currently sprawled on the floor in front of the couch, playing with some of his new toys whilst his mother was relaxing, watching a movie on TV. The few days off after New Year's was always the same with them, a calm and quiet occasion that they shared together after they'd said goodbye to the rest of the family before they had to go back to school and work. Geoff really enjoyed it, and he laughed from where he was, letting go of his Stretch Armstrong and watching as his arms shrunk back in to their normal size with a giggle. Everything was normal there and to anyone looking at the scene there would be nothing out of place. Not even Geoff nor his mother knew. Then there was a familiar pain that shot across his stomach before blooming against his hip. It didn't hurt as much as he had remembered, but it was still something that he recognised, a feeling that he would never forget. Had only been a little over a year since Geoff had experienced that distinctive burn, but despite all this he still gave a small cry, quickly slapping his hand over his mouth in embarrassment. It wasn't even hurting now, not really, but the sensation had surprised the boy.

"What happened?" Geoff's mother questioned, looking down to him whilst he stared back up with wide eyes. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to actually figure out in his young mind what  _had_  just happened to him before he could explain it to his mother. Except he couldn't find the words, couldn't understand why it was he'd felt that again. He was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. Perhaps he had just imagined it, perhaps it was nothing, maybe it was all in Geoff's head.

He didn't answer, but instead sat up onto his knees, looking down at where his stomach had stung slightly, even though his shirt was in the way. Slowly he reached down, grabbing the hem of the pyjama top and lifting it up slowly to get a glimpse at his hip and figure out what had caused it to hurt. He heard a gasp from his mother, who had been watching him intently, but he paid little attention. All of his focus was directed at the skin he'd just exposed, or more importantly the new addition to his skin that sat upon sore flesh. There, just above his left hip and as plain as the mark he had on his leg, was the letter J printed in a shade of brown that seemed to swirl between light and dark, unable to make up its mind.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Geoff asked in a small voice, his little head conflicted. He had never heard of this, knew that this didn't happen. People didn't have two marks. Yet despite that, despite the fear over why he had a new letter there permanently on his skin, he couldn't help but love it the same way he'd fallen in love with his first one.

"I've heard stories," his mother replied in a whisper, picking Geoff up and sitting him down on the couch with her so that she could take a closer look. "About people who get two, but I never believed them. I just thought they were made up. Looks like they're true."

"So I'm weird then? This... Not everybody has more than one?"

"Most people don't, no. But that doesn't make you weird. You're normal, okay baby? This," she said, her hand moving to hover over the new mark. "Just means that you have a big heart. You've got more love to go around, see? There's three of you, and you'll all make it work, together. That's how you're meant to be."

"But..." Geoff trailed off, lost for a moment as he touched the new letter and grinned to himself. When he looked up again his face fell, but his fingers lingered on his warm tummy. "They're still just babies, right? I get these when they're born, so they... They're both only little."

"You're the biggest, yeah," his mother laughed in reply. The sound was warm and Geoff's worries seemed to slide away with it. "And you're all little for now. When you're bigger, when you meet them, that won't matter. You all take care of each other."

"What if I don't know how though, Mama? What if they need me and I can't help 'em, what if I-"

"Geoff, stop worrying," she interrupted, running a hand through his hair. "You'll know how to help them, how to work things out. Besides, if there's three of you, you get even more help. You'll have two mates covering your back, not just one. You'll be fine, trust me." Geoff nodded in reply, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around his mother, sighing softly as he pressed into her side, drifting off into slumber soon enough. Whilst he slept his mother worried herself, knowing that not everyone would be accepting of the abnormal bonds her son had formed. She just hoped she could protect him enough until he had his mates there with him.  
  


* * *

  
After that, Geoff led a fairly normal life. He wasn't the most popular kid at school, since the situation with his marks made most people avoid him. His was taunted for it a lot and sometimes people were pretty mean about it, but Geoff didn't listen to them. When anyone said something about it, Geoff would think of his mates. He'd tell himself that wherever they were, they would have to deal with the same thing, that he wasn't the only one. He was the oldest and he was determined to stay strong, so that he could be there for the other parts of himself. This, along with all that his mother told him, helped Geoff to rise above everyone who tried to mock him because he had bonded with two people.

When he started middle school, Geoff was able to make a few friends. Most of them were singled out for being too nerdy, but Geoff found that of the small number of people in their group, everyone was nice. Nobody said anything mean, like they had some unspoken agreement to be the opposite of their bullies. They all kept together and not one of them was bothered by the fact Geoff had one more mark than he maybe should have. Of course, things in Geoff's life were destined to be complicated, and it seemed that the universe enjoyed flipping his world over when he had just got used to this new one.

It was Geoff's last week of school before summer vacation, his last year of being in the sixth grade. It was a typically hot day and he and his friends had seated themselves outside beneath a tree, where they could eat their lunch shaded from the Alabama sun. Geoff was smiling and laughing along with the group when the noise was cut short by a sharp intake of breath. Geoff's hand flew to his knee, huffing softly to himself. Everyone else had stopped talking and turned to look at him, their faces varied between concern and curiosity. Geoff's hand remained over his knee, clutching to his leg as he looked around at the faces of his friends.

"You okay, Geoff?" Tammy asked from beside him, leaning forward slightly to look him in the eye. Geoff gave her a shaky nod in response, but he knew what had happened. The six years that had passed him by suddenly felt like six minutes and his heart was hammering in his chest as he tried to decide what he should do, to understand why this was happening  _again_.

"I, uh, yeah," he replied rather unconvincingly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Something happened," Shawn added, blonde hair bobbing as he nodded to the hand Geoff still had over his knee. Geoff let out a deep breath in response, knowing that he wouldn't be able to cover this up. He decided he didn't want to anyway.

"Yeah," was all he said in reply before he took his hand away. He wasn't sure if he was glad or frustrated that he was wearing shorts, but he did know that the chocolate brown M on the inside of his left knee looked beautiful. He laughed softly to himself, forgetting he was surrounded by people as he brushed his thumb over it fondly, in love with it already. He was torn from his moment, though, when Shawn piped up again.

"You got another one!" He exclaimed, pointing to Geoff's leg. His voice was void of the anger that Geoff had expected, filled only with genuine surprise. He forced himself to look up, taking in the group of people he'd become so close to. "That's crazy."

"You're telling me," Geoff laughed nervously, waiting for the bomb to drop. He braced himself, getting ready for his friends to turn on him, to start shouting abuse at him, except it never came.

"How many's that now?" Another voice asked.

"Four," he replied. "Four including me. Christ," he muttered under his breath, his finger going over his skin despite the pain, trying to memorise the addition. "You took your time," he said to the M, knowing that his mate couldn't hear him, but it felt good to pretend. He shook his head, remembering the group and looking up to stunned and smiling faces. "I, uhm... Don't you guys think I'm a freak?" he asked quietly. His friends actually laughed at that.

"I think we're all freaks," a boy, Burnie, replied. "Just in our own ways. That makes us wanna stick together. We freaks gotta look out for each other, see. Don't worry, Geoff. We don't care."  
  


* * *

  
Geoff and Burnie became best friends after that. Of course, their group was still together, but those two in particular became inseparable. They not only did everything in school together, but spent most of their time around one another's houses, just hanging out. They were currently treating themselves to a night at the movies, sat at the back of the theatre and munching on popcorn. Occasionally they would mutter comments to one another about what was happening, but for the most part they were both engrossed in the film. Burnie caught Geoff twitching in the corner of his eye, turning to his friend with a questioning look. Geoff sighed heavily in response, scratching at the back of his neck before getting up and shuffling past the row of people so he could get out of the theatre. Burnie frowned deeply and watched Geoff leave, completely baffled and worrying a little. Something was up. He got to his feet and followed behind the younger boy, muttering apologies as he pushed passed people. When he was free he ran after Geoff, trying to be as quiet as he could.

Burnie ran out of the theatre and looked around, spotting Geoff a little way off down the corridor, sat on one of the seats with his head leaned back against the wall. Burnie walked up to him slowly, able to see that Geoff was a little shaken, that something wasn't quite right.

"You okay there?" He asked from Geoff's side, but not sitting down just yet.

"I don't know," Geoff sighed, not lifting his gaze from the carpet. "I don't think that I know anything anymore."

"What makes you say that? You know loads of stuff," Burnie countered.

"No, all I know is that people keep saying things and they aren't true. People always say that I'm not normal, they say that whatever is happening to me is a mistake. I'm sick of it. I try my damn best not to listen to them but it's so hard and I just... I don't know. What if they're right, Burnie?"

"They're not right," Burnie laughed gently, shaking his head and taking a seat beside Geoff. "Jeez, Geoff, there's some idiots about, but that doesn't mean you have to listen to everything they say. Anyone who talks crap about you is questioning a soul bond, your soul bonds. You'd have to be completely dumb to doubt marks and all that stuff. Anyway, what the hell's brought all this on?"

"I'd question it too," Geoff mumbled and before Burnie could ask about that Geoff turned his head as far as he could in Burnie's direction. Burnie let out a soft sigh as his gaze fell on Geoff's neck.

"Have you seen it?" He asked, to which Geoff shook his head. Burnie got back on his feet and took hold of his friend's arm, tugging him up too. "C'mon then."

Before Geoff had a chance to protest, Burnie was dragging him into the bathroom. He headed straight for the sinks, pushing Geoff forward before stepping back.

"Look at it," Burnie said gently, watching the other boy expectantly. Geoff turned his head and let out a choked sob, his hand coming up to cover the spot behind his ear in an almost protective manner.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, his head hanging in shame. "I'm sorry, I don't doubt you. Any of you," he continued to mutter to himself. "We'll be just fine." Geoff gave a firm nod of his head and moved his hand to wipe at his eyes. He couldn't stop looking into the mirror, didn't want to look away from the beautiful green G that now sat just below his hairline, behind his right ear. Yeah, so maybe this was crazy, the whole thing. But Geoff's life had been crazy since he was just six years old. Now he was nearly thirteen and it seemed as though his life was just going to be complicated, that the craziness wasn't going away, at least not for a long time. Geoff decided he could deal with that. "All of five of us are gonna be okay."  
  


* * *

  
The bullying only worsened with the addition of his fourth mark, but Geoff was beyond caring. Getting upset about being shoved into lockers or thrown on the floor wouldn't help anything, so Geoff fought back. He wore all four of his marks with pride, and even though only one was constantly visible, Geoff practically flaunted them. They were his and Geoff was proud of that. His confidence about the fact he was so different, coupled with his physical strength that showed when someone got a little too close for comfort earned Geoff a fair bit of respect in school. Still, that didn't mean he was excited to be back after summer.

Now that he was in eighth grade, starting his final year of middle school, hardly anyone bothered him about his mark. Everyone that was his age knew just what he was like and that crossing him was a bad idea and the younger kids, even the toughest, had heard enough to deter them. Neither Geoff nor Burnie were bothered on a regular basis and when someone did make a comment or try and humiliate either of them, Geoff would quickly put them in their place. He wasn't a bad kid by any means, he did pretty well in school and he worked hard, it was just that he wasn't afraid to stand up for himself. When he was younger and had become more confident in himself he got into more and more fights. The teachers all had the wrong impression about him and most weren't too fond of him, seeing him as a trouble-maker.

Geoff was sat at the front of the class, as his teacher had decided he would when creating their seating plan. Thankfully Burnie was also at the front in the next row over, so Geoff didn't mind all that much. It was pretty annoying, knowing that he could be trusted to sit further back, but he could deal with it. For the most part Geoff kept his head down and got on with his work, only occasionally leaning over to whisper or pass notes to Burnie. Right now Geoff was leaning back, having finished the test that they'd been given on a Friday, of all days. If that wasn't a bad enough start to the day, then the universe decided it would just have to keep pushing. Geoff swore suddenly, the two front legs of his chair slamming down onto the floor and the desk flying forward from the force with which Geoff had kicked it. Their teacher looked up, eyes narrowed and landing on the boy directly in front of him.

"Is there a problem?" He asked, which Geoff knew was a prompt to explain himself. He didn't instead he huffed to himself and propped a leg up on the desk, starting to untie his shoelace. "Mr. Ramsey? Mr. Ramsey, get your foot down. And if you could keep your shoes on, please?"

"Yeah, hang on," Geoff replied hurriedly, clearly distracted with his shoe. This, apparently, was not the right thing to say and only angered his teacher further.

"Geoffrey! This is not the time for fooling around, there is a test going on!" Again, Geoff was too preoccupied to respond, now in the process of pulling his sock off. Burnie was watching him closely, wondering if his friend had actually lost his mind. In fact, the whole class had stopped to look up and watch, all of them wondering much the same thing as Burnie. Geoff let out a small noise of disbelief before he started laughing to himself. "Is there something funny, Mr. Ramsey? Because if there is, I'm sure the class would love to hear about it."

"I don't know, I think it's pretty funny. I just got my mark, that's all."

"Seriously?" Burnie cried, leaning over to look to Geoff's foot. Surely enough, there below the bone of his ankle was the letter R, a deep brown in colour. "Dude! You're fourteen!" Geoff shrugged in reply, not paying attention to all the mutterings and whispers of his classmates.

"They're only like, a year younger than the last one," he countered, touching the mark gently and grinning. "The baby of us all."

"Yes, very funny, Geoffrey. However, mates are not something that you should be joking about. That is very disrespectful."

"What?" Geoff snapped, going into defensive mode now that his mates were being brought into this. "What, you think I'd joke about them? You think that  _I'm_  the one being disrespectful?"

"Geoff, c'mon..." Burnie said gently, reaching out his hand tentatively to his friend's arm, hoping he could calm him.

"No, Burnie!" he yelled back, pulling his arm away. "I'm tired of everyone being like this about it. I'm sick of everyone laughing and jeering, I am sick of  _my_  mates being insulted all the time and I'm not putting up with it! What, so there was five of us. That apparently was funny enough, and now there's another one. Big deal. I don't give a damn how weird any of you think it is that there are six of us, because none of you are involved in this. So how about you all just shut up and keep out of other peoples' business. And if you have a problem with that, if you don't like the fact I don't have one but five marks on me, I've got a brilliant idea. Keep your god damn mouth shut about it."

Geoff was on his feet by this point, addressing his class who all stared back up at him in stunned silence, with the exception of Burnie who was grinning a little, trying to contain himself. When he finished talking, Geoff gave a firm nod of his head and grabbed his stuff, making sure not to forget his shoe and sock. He walked calmly and proudly out of the classroom despite being half bare-footed and made a point of slamming the door behind him. As he walked down the empty hall toward the exit, he looked down at his feet and the R that showed back up at him.

"Don't worry, little one," He said quietly. "I got your back."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have loads of ideas for the next few chapters where I can start bringing in some more of the guys, but if there's anything in particular you want me to try and include, please let me know! I'm really just having a load of fun writing in this universe. Thank you!


	2. Count Your Chickens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff and Burnie have gone off to college, but Geoff's still not sure what his plans for life are. He hasn't met any of his mates yet and he can't even tell if he's found them or if he's experiencing his first crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at some point the soul mate AU also became a college AU and coffee shop AU too. Not really sure what happened there... Oh well.
> 
> This chapter's shorter than I would've liked; it's mostly just setting up what's gonna happen in chapter 3. Hope you enjoy anyway!

When Geoff and Burnie left high school, they were both pretty keen to get away from their home town. They applied to a fair few number of colleges, but all of them were still pretty close to home. Not there, but not too far away either. The truth was that neither of them had any idea what they wanted to do in terms of a job. They enjoyed movies and video games, but you couldn't get paid for a high score on Pac Man, so they had to find something else. Burnie had always been good with technology, so he applied for courses in computer sciences. Geoff wasn't all that sure, and ended up applying for a few things. He couldn't make up his mind, but wanted to try and keep his options open.   
  
They both got accepted in a couple of places, but Columbus State, Georgia seemed like the best option. It wasn't too far from home, but they thought that a change in state would be good for them. Geoff found himself doing a course in sociology, and though he didn't love it, he was pretty sure there were worse classes to be in. Burnie enjoyed computer sciences for the most part, and only ever complained that the work wasn't as exciting as his own projects and ideas were.  
  
Despite not sharing classes any longer, the two still shared a dorm room and spent most of their free time together. They had almost a ritual of sorts, where they would go for a coffee when they'd finished their classes for the day and catch up over a snack from the small café not far off the campus.   
  
It was a quiet place, not anything special, with home-made food and a warm atmosphere. The customers were mostly college students, like themselves, but there were a few other faces that Geoff and Burnie saw there regularly. The staff were always friendly and as they started going there more often they even got to know some of them a little better. Usually they were served by a young woman named Samantha, as her little name tag read. She was always laughing, making easy conversation with the the two and sometimes even sneaking them things like biscuits as they sat at what had become their table. They'd been going there for a good couple of years now and they'd become friendly with all of the staff there. Sure, there had been the odd changes throughout the past two years, but really it was a small shop, and most of the people employed there were part of the family.   
  
They were both a little surprised when they arrived one Tuesday evening to find an unfamiliar face behind the counter. Though when they thought about it, it was later than they usually visited and there could be other employees around at this time that they weren't all that used to seeing. They headed to their table and sat down, talking and looking up at today's sandwich board for a few minutes. When they'd both decided on what they wanted, Geoff got up and went to order. He smiled at the man behind the counter, though as he studied him a little closer, Geoff was pretty sure the guy was younger than he was. He certainly didn't look old enough to be out of high school, despite him being roughly the same height as Geoff himself.   
  
"Hey," he greeted, as he always did. Usually there was some small talk between him and whoever was working at the time, but the man—could he even be called a man?— seemed too serious to talk about things like the weather.  
  
"Hi," he said in reply and Geoff had to quickly control himself to keep from grinning madly at the sound of his voice. Christ, what was wrong with him? Really, the dude was just speaking. Nobody should be able to make that much of an impact with such a short word. But his voice was so much deeper than he'd expected to be and it took him by surprise, in the best way possible. Geoff, instead of making himself seem like a complete idiot, gave a polite smile and placed his order, moving aside slightly so that he was no longer blocking up the counter.   
  
He looked around and saw that the place was quite quiet with nobody else coming up just yet. He turned his attention back to the guy, tilting his head slightly as he looked him over.   
  
"I haven't seen you here before," Geoff commented casually, hoping that didn't sound too creepy.  
  
"Yeah," the boy sighed, giving a slight shrug of his shoulders. "I don't work here all that much. My Dad needs the help sometimes, so I chip in." He looked up from the cash register he'd been sorting, eyes landing on Geoff's for the briefest of moments before he turned away again. "I guess you come here a lot?" He called back to Geoff from where he was now at the coffee machine.   
  
"Yeah, every day," Geoff chuckled, unable to feel anything but happy in the young man's presence. He looked him over again, but there was no name badge on the apron that he wore. Damn. "I go to college just around the corner."  
  
"This spot's great for business with students," he nodded, returning with the drinks that Geoff had ordered. "We get people from my school coming here too." The boy was just about to open his mouth and say something else when a timer went off, telling him that their food was ready. He gave a small, almost apologetic smile before going off and returning with their grilled sandwiches, setting them on the tray with the coffees. "There you go," he said, sliding the tray over to Geoff.   
  
"Thanks," he said sincerely, picking up the tray and giving the new guy one last grin before going back to Burnie. Of course, he picked up on Geoff's mood right away.  
  
"What happened, why are you smiling like that?" He questioned with a small frown. Geoff shrugged, taking his own plate of food and putting it in front of himself.   
  
"I don't know. The guy behind the counter was just really nice."  
  
"Really, really nice?" Burnie teases, waggling his eyebrows as he smirked behind his coffee cup. Geoff just rolled his eyes.   
  
"Shut up. He was just... He had a cool voice," He supplied dumbly.   
  
"Oh, well then. Say no more," replied Burnie sarcastically. His friend gave a heavy sigh and decided to concentrate on his food and not on the look he was being given by Burnie across the table. "Alright, okay. Sorry. Who is he?"  
  
"I don't know, the kid of the guy who owns this place, I think."  
  
"Hm... What's his name?" Burnie asked after a few minutes.  
  
"Didn't have a badge on," Geoff said and yeah, he wasn't supposed to sound _that_  disappointed.  
  
"Guess you'll have to ask him next time we're here."  
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  


* * *

  
It was proven that Burnie's idea was much easier said than done, since the next time the two were in the café the young guy was nowhere to be seen. In fact, Geoff didn't see him again for weeks after that first time they'd met. By now it was the first weekend of spring break, and as usual, Burnie and Geoff hadn't gone home to their families. It wasn't that they didn't like seeing them, just that they went home for Christmas and it was nice to have some time off to themselves. A few of their other friends had also stayed and both boys were looking forward to not worrying about their work, even if they only got a couple of days in which they didn't study.

"How about we go down to Haywired for lunch today?" Burnie suggested as he looked away from his computer. Geoff gave a nod, flipping closed the book that he'd been reading and stretching.   
  
"That sounds great," he replied. "I could really do with a coffee right now."  
  
The two set off together, making light conversation as they walked the small distance to their favourite café. Geoff was pretty sure his heart stopped when they stepped inside and he saw who was working behind the counter. He mentally kicked himself for getting excited about a damn barista of all people, let alone one he'd only met once before, and gave a small shake of his head (a motion that didn't go unnoticed by Burnie) before he carried on toward their table.   
  
He sat down and looked up at the menu board, absently drumming his fingers against the table in an impatient manner.  
  
"Would you chill out?" Burnie chuckled and it took Geoff a few moments to register that he was actually being spoken to. No, he most certainly wasn't sneaking glances at any of the staff members. Not at all.  
  
"I'm fine," Geoff shrugged in reply, but the expression on his best friend's face said that he wasn't convinced. Geoff decided that they needed to stay away from this subject. "You know what you're go-"  
  
"Nice try," Burnie cut him off. "But you're not getting out of this that easily." Geoff sighed tiredly, turning back to the other man.   
  
"What?"  
  
"Is that the guy you talked about before? The kid?"  
  
"He's obviously not much of a kid if he works here," Geoff countered, which only earned him a glare.   
  
"You know what I meant."  
  
"Yeah, it's... He's the guy. I didn't get his name."  
  
"So go talk to him, find out." Geoff sighed, sounding almost defeated. "What?"  
  
"Nothing, it's just... I don't think I should be making a big deal over some stupid crush when I've got all these, do you?" He replied, hand coming up to brush over the mark behind his ear. He wasn't sure why, but having that contact always seemed to calm him some. It wasn't that he favoured that mark in particular; he loved each of them equally, but it was usually the easiest to access, at least in public. Sometimes he even felt guilty about that because he didn't like thinking he gave any of them special treatment.  
  
"What if it's not a crush?" Burnie countered, pulling Geoff from his thoughts. The younger of the two just laughed, shaking his head.  
  
"I'm pretty sure I'd know if he was one of them."  
  
"Geoff, you spoke to the guy all of once for about five minutes. Go up there, get his name, talk to him some more. It's not like you have anything to lose."  
  
"I guess," Geoff sighed again, getting to his feet. He got Burnie's order and went up to place it along with his own, joining the small queue. He really shouldn't feel this nervous about talking to a freaking high school kid, for God's sake. What was wrong with him?   
  
Whilst Geoff was having a small freak-out in his mind his feet were shuffling forwards of their own accord and soon enough he was at the front of the line.   
  
"Hey," a somewhat familiar voice greeted and immediately Geoff became aware of his surroundings again.  
  
"Oh, hi," he replied, giving the guy a small smile. He looked away from his face, just for a moment and Geoff's heart stopped when his eyes landed on the name badge he now wore. Before he had time to dwell, he was being spoken to again and his gaze snapped back up.  
  
"What can I get you?" The younger man asked with a slight tilt of his head. The smile on his face was just ridiculous, really, nobody should look that calm and endearing at the same time.  
  
"I'll have two cappuccinos, a grilled chicken sandwich and the country omelette, please," he replied, surprising himself with how steady his voice was. This wasn't so bad. He paid and stood off to the side, watching the dude behind the counter as much as he could without staring obviously at him. The food was ready much too quick in his opinion, but the smile he was given as it was slid down to him sort of made up for that. He grinned and thanked the barista before taking the food and coffee back to their table.   
  
"I guess that went well?" Burnie chuckled as Geoff slid back into his seat. He shrugged and started on his food, starting to run over the events of the past few minutes in his head.  
  
"I don't know, I guess. We didn't talk all that much, but I got his name."  
  
"And?"  
  
"James," he replied, not sure why he felt so strange about saying that. It was just a name, and a fairly common one really. Only something about it just didn't feel right, felt almost wrong as it fell off his tongue. How could a name feel wrong? He'd said it before, had known other people with the name James but it had never made him feel this uncomfortable until just now. A small shudder ran through him and he frowned, sparing a quick glance back over to the counter. That was weird.  
  
"Wait, you have a J, right?" Burnie said, sounding more excited than Geoff himself, which made the latter laugh quietly.  
  
"Yeah, but what does that mean? There's millions of people whose names start with J, big deal," he replied dismissively, trying to focus on eating his food and ignoring the eyes he could feel fixed on himself. He didn't want to get his hopes up now since it was more than likely the boy who had just served Geoff was simply that; some guy that he had a bit of a crush on because he was cute and his voice caused Geoff to have goosebumps up his arms. Okay he was definitely getting much deeper into this whole situation than he had ever intended to. He needed to stop thinking about him. Just a crush, he told himself. Geoff's peace lasted all of three minutes before Burnie looked up from his sandwich, unable to keep quiet.  
  
"What colour were his eyes, then?" He blurted out, to which Geoff only frowned in confusion. Where the hell had that come from‽  
  
"What difference do his eyes make?" He questioned, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make sense of the connection Burnie had seemingly made. He only felt worse when his friend rolled his eyes.  
  
"For a guy with five marks you don't really know much about them, huh?"  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Geoff countered defensively. He knew each of his marks off by heart.  
  
"It means you never thought to question why they're all different colours."  
  
"Well they just are! It's no big deal, is it? I mean, obviously they won't all be the same."  
  
"They're not all the same because they match up with eye colour, dumb ass. If your mark is green, then your soul mate has green eyes. That's how it works," Burnie explained, the light amusement in his tone making Geoff feel that little bit more stupid. How the hell had he not known that‽ He sat in silence for a couple of minutes to process the new information he'd been given, running everything through his mind before sighing and taking a solemn sip of his coffee.  
  
Burnie sat watching, wanting to know the answer to his earlier question. "Well?" He said softly.  
  
"Blue," Geoff mumbled, just loud enough for Burnie to hear over the general hubbub of the practically full café. He didn't question how he'd noticed that, didn't even care that he'd subconsciously noted that fact down and filed it away in his brain under an apparently new section labelled _All about 'James'_. Stupid name didn't even sound right in his head. Geoff wasn't questioning any of these things he'd picked up and remembered, all he was questioning is how he'd seemed to put two and two together to get five. "His eyes were blue."  
  
"And your J?" Burnie prompted, causing Geoff to shake his head. He wanted to look down at the skin of his stomach, to trace the mark above his hip one more time just to check. But he didn't need to. Geoff knew his marks, had every part of them seared perfectly in his memory, every detail crystal clear. He knew that he was out of luck.   
  
"Brown."


	3. Silver Linings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff's trying his best to move on from James, but it's tough. He's trying his best to do the right thing, but it never feels right. James is just very confused over why Geoff's suddenly distant and Burnie's doing his best to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not mean to have this written so quickly. I'm usually pretty slow with new chapters and this turned out longer than I expected, too (over 5K, how did that happen?). Apparently my muses react well to comments and stuff. I was going to wait a little while before posting, but I finished it and couldn't wait to get it up. Aren't you lucky readers?
> 
> Rating has been bumped up to T because of swearing. 
> 
> Hopefully some more of the boys will make an appearance soon. For now, though, enjoy some more insight and interaction with James. Enjoy!

Despite finding out that James was not one of Geoff's mates, he couldn't seem to get the younger man out of his head. Every time he and Burnie visited Haywired, Geoff would silently pray to see the barista again. It was bothering him. He'd feel his stomach drop for a moment out of disappointment when they entered the café and James wasn't behind the counter. Burnie watched his friend, not aware of how much this was bothering Geoff. He himself had had a few crushes through high school and he didn't mind, because he knew that's all they were. He'd enjoy it while it lasted in the knowledge that they wouldn't last long. He knew that he'd find his soulmate eventually, so he didn't worry over it. Geoff, however, was a completely different story.  
  
Burnie noticed that when James was working, Geoff would insist on going to place their order, which Burnie allowed. If the guy wanted to go and speak to him, fine. It wasn't doing him any damage and he didn't miss the smile that would illuminate Geoff's face for brief moments when he thought Burnie wasn't paying attention. Smiles that Burnie only ever saw when James was in the room too. Geoff would try to hide a grin when he returned with a tray of food and caffeine, not just so that Burnie couldn't see but so that he wouldn't feel even more guilty.  
  
Dealing with his unique situation as he grew up caused Geoff to adapt, falling into practised methods that helped him cope with the five marks littered over his body. The fact that Geoff was the oldest was a rock that he clung to, something that he had to ground him. He would always tell himself it was his job to be there for the rest of his mates, wherever they were. He knew that in 'normal' soul bonds the two people were equal, that they halved responsibility and care for one another. Really, the relationship of six people would be no different. They were equal amongst them, but Geoff still felt that the responsibility for the others fell in him. He had to look out for them to the best of his ability, doing whatever he could to stop them from being hurt. That was why James was such a problem.  
  
The teenager at the coffee shop had pushed Geoff from the rock that he clung to so that Geoff was left drowning in a sea of guilt. It was his job to care about his five mates, not for random guys that he may fall for. Every time Geoff joked with James, every time he laughed whilst waiting for his order or every time his heart skipped a beat when their hands brushed across the counter he felt as if he'd failed. The enjoyment was short lived because in hindsight, this whole thing was wrong.  
  
He couldn't stay away from James, couldn't help smiling at the thought of him or sighing to himself when he was absent from the café. Something about James caused Geoff to slip up each and every time he came to mind and Geoff struggled to accept it. Still, that didn't mean he had the strength to stay away from him.  
  
Geoff wasn't sure when he'd started tipping James, it was just another of those things that seemed to happen without Geoff consciously deciding on it. When the café was quiet Geoff would go to the counter and simply talk to James for a while, forgetting all his guilt and worry as he was lost in their conversations. He learned little bits and pieces about James and his life through this, seemingly random trivia that he tucked away in that treasured but private corner of his mind. He couldn't shake the feeling that even the smallest details about the guy were important, or at least they would be one day. He found out that James didn't enjoy school all that much, despite how good his grades were. He learned that James worked more often now so that he could save up some money, wanting to go to college and eventually move away from home. Geoff could relate to that situation. Tipping James and aiding his college find just seemed right in Geoff's head. Sure, he wasn't loaded himself, but the little he gave would all add up and he'd have helped, somehow. He wasn't sure why that seemed important.  
  
The pair of college students sat at their table one evening, Geoff quietly sipping at his coffee whilst Burnie savoured the dessert of the day he'd got: home-made cherry pie. After he'd finished Burnie looked up, frowning softly at the look on Geoff's face. It wasn't right for him to look that down especially when a quick look to the counter confirmed James was working. Something was up and Burnie was going to find out what it was.  
  
"If you wanted longer to talk to him, you can just go back up there," he teased gently. "I'd rather you do that than sit here and sulk." Geoff didn't bite, though. They teased each other all the time, they were used to it. But Geoff didn't laugh, didn't even crack a smile at what Burnie had said. If Burnie wasn't worried before, he was now. Geoff just hummed, giving a small shrug of his shoulders.  
  
"I don't," he replied, aiming for nonchalance but falling short and sounding sad instead.  Burnie frowned in confusion, wondering what had caused this sudden change of heart.   
  
"You don't? Really? Because you haven't even let me go up there whenever he's been working," he pointed out. He kept his voice a little gentle, not wanting to upset Geoff, he just wanted to figure out what had happened to cause this mood swing.  
  
"Yeah, well, that's... It's stupid," he waved, trying to dismiss the issue. He could see where it was Burnie was going with this and Geoff didn't want to go there. He didn't want to have to explain to his friend how he'd betrayed his mates, his mates that he hadn't even met yet. As much as Burnie was a great friend, there were some things that Geoff couldn't talk to him about, simply because Geoff struggled even to get them straight in his head, let alone form his feelings into words and then to actually speak those words to Burnie.  
  
"So stupid you're this beat up over it?" Burnie challenged. "It can't be that small a deal if you're hanging off his every word one minute and the next you don't even wanna look at the guy. So, come on."  
  
"Look, I said it's nothing," Geoff replied, but he wasn't angry. This wasn't an argument, this was Geoff sounding too tired to even from a retort, to brush Burnie off with a few harsh words or to speak in that tone that he'd pick up on rare occasions. It wasn't often that Burnie saw Geoff angry, really angry to the point where Geoff _sounded_  frustrated, that it was obvious to everyone that he was pissed off. It was in those rare moments when Geoff lost his usually calm and collected state that he actually looked like an adult, one even older than he actually was. Burnie saw the purely responsible side of Geoff when he was frustrated, when Geoff was through with arguing. He'd speak in a voice that Burnie could imagine he would use as a father, scolding his child; with a sense of finality that told you the matter was no longer up for discussion. But that wasn't how he sounded right now and Burnie knew that—given how tired the younger man sounded—if he kept pushing then Geoff would cave and tell him what was up.  
  
"Yeah, and I know you're lying. So come on. Talk."  
  
"It's just... I like him, Burnie. And I'm not supposed to."  
  
"You're not supposed to?" He echoed, voice full of genuine confusion. "What the hell does that mean?"  
  
"It means he's not one of them. I'm not supposed to be with him and I like him anyway. I thought it was just some dumb little thing I would get over and then we could be friends or something, but it's not happening. Every time I speak to him I start liking him even more and it's scaring the crap out of me! And I can't even help myself. Every time I come here I say that I'm not going to get even more attached, that I'm just gonna talk to him and then I leave here feeling crap because I like him even more than before."  
  
"Why is it such a big deal? It's not like you're cheating on any of them. Dude, you don't have a clue who any of your mates are. They're not gonna hate you because you had a thing with some guy when you were in college."  
  
"That's not the point!" Geoff snapped defensively, annoyed at himself and more annoyed that Burnie was trying to justify the whole thing. He spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting to draw any attention, but his emotions were still clear in his voice, despite the low volume. "If I was supposed to like him then he'd be on here too, wouldn't he? I can't... I can't stand it. How selfish is that? I have four more marks then regular people do, and that's still not enough for me! I hate it, I hate myself for not being able to even protect them from myself."   
  
By this point Geoff had slumped down in his seat, his face a mixture of anger and hurt as he glared at the table. He had one hand wrapped tightly around his coffee cup and he refused to raise his eyes, even now that he'd finished speaking. Burnie couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him look so defeated.  
  
"I'll see you later," Geoff mumbled, not wanting to talk about this any more. He hadn't expected Burnie to understand and he couldn't resist glancing over to James whilst here, which only made him feel worse. He got to his feet and walked out of the café, not aware of the high school student with eyes glued to his back, worrying over what had upset him.  
  


* * *

  
James noticed a change after that day when Geoff left alone. At first, his new friend (that he hadn't actually learned the name of yet) was just quieter. Usually James would enjoy a conversation with him, telling dumb jokes and sharing things about themselves if James wasn't rushed off his feet, Geoff's order forgotten and pushed to the back of his mind while they just enjoyed themselves.   
  
He wasn't sure what had happened, but Geoff didn't do that any more. Now when Geoff came to the counter he would look tired, purposely avoiding meeting James's gaze and immediately placing his order, even if the café was practically dead. He didn't look happy to be here like he used to. James worried that he'd done something wrong, going over their interactions in his mind. Really it shouldn't bother him, Geoff should just have been another customer. Sure, he was a good customer and James liked to have at least a decent  relationship with the regulars, but that's not how it felt. He tried telling himself that Geoff still came here, so he shouldn't get worried about it. That didn't work.  
  
Burnie had noticed the same thing, but he hadn't brought up James again. He didn't know where to start, since Geoff seemed intent on beating himself up over the whole thing and wouldn't listen to anything Burnie said on the matter. All he could do was sit by and watch as Geoff's mood went into decline. He wasn't only unhappy when they visited Haywired, it was always the same. Geoff still tried to put up a front at home, would smile and laugh but Burnie knew that he wasn't really all that happy.  
  
To anyone who didn't know Geoff as well as Burnie himself did, the younger of the two probably looked just fine. But it was the little things, like the fact Geoff ate less and stayed up way too late that told Burnie he was still struggling with this. One of the more obvious signs was that Geoff had actually started drinking. Nothing serious, but Burnie would catch him slipping whiskey into his coke on some nights. He didn't bring it up, he just hoped that Geoff would be happier soon, before he had to start taking drastic measures.  
  
Geoff took Burnie by surprise one day when he allowed his friend to go up and place their order. Burnie actually stared at him in disbelief, looking over to James behind the counter and then back to Geoff, his jaw hanging open slightly.  
  
"You don't wanna go?" He managed to ask. Geoff shook his head no, forcing himself not to follow Burnie's gaze.  
  
"No, you can go get it," he shrugged. Burnie took a few moments before he composed himself, trying to look normal again as he got up and crossed the room. He had to wait a little while since Haywired was pretty busy tonight, but he didn't mind.  
  
"Hey, want can I get you?" James greeted when Burnie reached the front of the queue. The older man returned James's grin, realising this was his first direct encounter with Geoff's... What the hell could he even call the two of them? Friends? Yeah. Something like that.   
  
Burnie gave his order and then leaned against the counter, watching as James moved and casting the odd look back to Geoff. Eyes down, miserable look. No changes. A short time passed before James pushed forward the tray and Burnie took out the money Geoff had given for his, noting how he'd given a fair bit too much. It must have been done on purpose, since Burnie had seen the amount of change Geoff had with him. He gave a mental shrug, handing over both his and Geoff's money.  
  
"Keep the rest," he said as James went to get change. He motioned in the direction of the table, a sad smile tugging at his lips. "It's from him." James gave a small nod, offering a smile in return that Burnie knew was false.  
  
"Tell him thanks."  
  


* * *

  
It had been over three weeks since Burnie had properly met James, and Geoff was still miserable. It was driving Burnie crazy. James was just confused over the whole thing. Geoff was still sending up tips, so he assumed that he hadn't actually done anything to offend him. But if Geoff wasn't angry or upset with him, why wouldn't he talk to him any more? It didn't make any sense. It was confusing and honestly, James missed their conversations too. Okay, so he didn't know the guys name, but he thought that they were well on their way to becoming friends. Then, out of the blue, Geoff just changed, becoming distant. James hated not understanding anything and so he decided he'd have to ask for an explanation.

  
The next time he saw the two enter the café they were talking, at least Burnie was. Geoff seemed to be listening, nodding to whatever was being said. James smiled to himself at the sight and went back to making the coffee he'd started on.  
  
As usual, Burnie came up to order. They talked a little, something that had started happening now that they saw each other regularly. James had picked up more shifts and since they had to fit around his school life, they usually fit around a college life too. He wouldn't see Burnie every day, but they still talked. Not about anything important usually, but today would be different.  
  
"What's up with your friend?" He asked, trying not to sound as worried as he'd been feeling lately. Burnie sighed at the question, looking over to Geoff. He wasn't even going to try and deny that something was wrong.  
  
"He thinks too much," Burnie replied honestly and James looked over quick enough to see him shake his head to himself. "He, uh... He has a lot on his mind and I think he's finding it hard to deal."  
  
"Look, I know I'm just some guy who works at a coffee shop," James started as he plated up their food. "And I don't mean to sound too creepy, but could you tell him I'm worried? I just can't help noticing how down he's been lately and-"  
  
"It's fine," Burnie interrupted with a reassuring smile. "I get it. Hell, I'm worried about him too. I'll tell him." James looked grateful, setting down two cups off coffee on the tray and sliding it to Burnie. He just hoped that this would change something. Even if it meant guilt tripping Geoff into talking, James needed to speak to him. Burnie was only too happy to get on board with the plan. He returned to the table after paying, stirring sugar into his coffee.  
  
"James said he's worried about you," he commented casually, his words met with the sound of a fork clattering onto the table. Burnie looked up at that. "What?"  
  
"H-he... What the hell were you talking about?"  
  
"Nothing!" He replied, holding up his hands defensively. "He just asked what was up and told me to tell you he's worried. I'm just the messenger here." Geoff sat there for a moment, looking deep in thought. Burnie went back to his coffee, waiting for Geoff to think this over.  
  
"He didn't say anything else?"  
  
"Something about seeing you upset and how he can't ignore it, I don't know. Why don't you talk to him?" Burnie suggested lightly. Geoff shook his head, leaving Burnie feeling disappointed. He decided against pushing, opting to wait and try again some other day if Geoff didn't get any happier soon.   
  
He didn't hear his friend mutter "Not today," to himself, and they enjoyed the rest of their food whilst Geoff formed a plan.  
  


* * *

  
Geoff finished up the paper he'd been working on and gave a satisfied sigh. Burnie was in class right now but Geoff had finished for the day, so he'd tried to catch up on some work. It was pretty hard trying to concentrate through the mixture or nerves and excitement in his stomach, but he had to keep to the plan.  
  
Yesterday, when Burnie had come back and said what James had told him, Geoff had realised that they did need to talk. This had all started because of his guilt, but he felt even more guilty now, knowing that he had worried James. He missed the guy and the knowledge he cared seemed to make something shift in Geoff's mind. changing his outlook on the whole situation. He couldn't keep doing this. There and then, sat at that little table, he'd worked out how he would go about it. He got out of classes earlier today, but that wasn't much good since James would still be in school. Burnie finished his class at half past four, and the high school let out at two o'clock, so Geoff had decided to go at three. That gave him two and a half hours after finishing class, so he was productive and finished up his paper. By now it was five to three and Geoff just hoped that James would be working as got to his feet and slipped his shoes on.  
  
He walked slowly on his way to Haywired, knowing that he didn't have to rush. He enjoyed the warm air and slight breeze that offered a release from the heat of Georgia in the early summer. It gave him time to try and calm himself, to prepare what he would say if James was actually working. He took a deep breath as he reached the café before pushing the door open and walking inside. His eyes went straight to the counter and he smiled when he saw James there. He hadn't looked up when Geoff entered, for which he was glad, since all the emotion he'd kept hidden these passed weeks seemed to flood onto his face. He quickly controlled his expression, knowing he couldn't walk up there grinning like a mad man idiot. At least, not outwardly.  
  
Geoff walked slowly even now, worried about talking to James after all this time. But he wasn't going to back down. He had decided on doing this and he'd be damned if he didn't follow through on his plan. Besides, the coffee smelt so good he couldn't very well leave without any and since Burnie wasn't here, Geoff had to get it himself. He was suddenly very glad of his decision to come alone. He joined the line that consisted mostly of kids younger than himself, all seemingly together and ordering iced coffees from  what Geoff could gather.  
  
When he reached the front of the line, James didn't greet him in the friendly way he normally would. He stared back at Geoff, eyes narrowed slightly as he looked him over. The silence stretched on and with the background noise toned out, it was pretty uncomfortable.  
  
"Hi," Geoff said dumbly, not knowing where he should start. His voice sounded small even to his own ears and James could hear how it wavered with uncertainty. Still, James couldn't believe he was actually here on his own and he was speaking. He'd missed the sound of his voice, but that didn't mean he wasn't a little angry.  
  
"You're here," he stated, eyes fixed on the older man's. Geoff shifted under the intense gaze, but he didn't look away.  
  
"Y-yeah, I... I'm sorry," he said sincerely, finally letting his head fall out of guilt. "I'm sorry that I've been acting shitty and not talking to or whatever. And I'm sorry I had you worried about me."  
  
"You don't look sad now," came the reply, which honestly surprised Geoff. That was a little ambiguous. Geoff wasn't actually sure what he should take from that. Was he forgiven? Or was James just stating what he saw, what he considered a fact? "What was wrong?"  
  
"I-" Geoff struggled for words, quickly deciding against launching into his real reasoning. He'd tell James some day, maybe when they'd become closer friends, but right now he didn't think he'd go into detail. "I guess I had sort of an identity crisis? I was just really confused."  
  
"But you're not now?" James asked for clarification. Really, he was glad to see Geoff back to normal, hearing him speak for the first time in weeks had already made his day better and that was exaggerated by the fact he was speaking to _him_. "You figured it out?"  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I did," Geoff nodded, smiling back at the younger boy. "Are we good?" James laughed at that and Geoff's smile broadened at the sound. He had really missed that laugh.  
  
"We're good. And look, if this happens again, if you need someone to-"  
  
"Ryan!" An unfamiliar voice yelled from across the room. Geoff heard the door close and he wouldn't have taken any notice, would've assumed the person just entering had spotted his friend or something and reacted much too enthusiastically. He would've, if James's head hadn't whipped around at the yell, rolling his eyes at the sight. Geoff turned, looking toward the door at whoever it was had caught James's attention. His eyes fell on a shorter boy, his brown hair a mess and glasses slipping down his nose. "Ryan!" He shouted again, even though he was pretty close to them now. Geoff frowned in confusion; he seemed to be speaking to James.  
  
"Kevin, calm down! You're acting like you haven't seen me in months," James laughed.  
  
"Sorry," the boy—Kevin—sighed. "But guess what? Amber Curtis is having a party on Saturday, and she said we can go!"  
  
"You spoke to Amber Curtis? And she invited you to a party? Yeah, sorry, Kev. I'm not buying it."  
  
"No, really! She said that I could come and that I should... I should bring you too. Honest!"  
  
Geoff was still a shocked, trying to comprehend what was happening. Was this kid crazy?  
  
"You don't sound too sure there," James replied, coming back to the counter from where he'd be organising the coffee cups next to the machine.  
  
"I'm not making this up, Ryan!"  
  
"Ryan," Geoff questioned, looking back to James. His name was James. He could see it right there, written on his name badge. "Why does he keep calling you Ryan?"  
  
"Because that's his name?" Kevin answered from beside him, speaking slowly as though Geoff was the one being stupid here.  
  
"Not what it says there," he retorted, looking at the short guy and then nodding to the badge on James's chest.  
  
"Oh, that," James said, voice full of understanding, as though the name tag had slipped his mind. Geoff watched him look down at it and wrinkle his face in disgust. "Yeah, it sucks. It's such a stupid name, I hate it. Nobody but my mom and dad calls me James."  
  
The name fell off his tongue in a way that made it seem foreign. It was said with such distaste that Geoff wondered how he could ever have associated the name with this man before.  
  
"My middle name's Ryan," he continued. "So practically everyone calls me that. I just have this on my badge because-"  
  
"Ryan," Geoff echoed, interrupting the explanation he was being given. His eyes were wide, and he stared, unable to help himself. Then suddenly, something seemed to click into place. "Your name's Ryan."  
  
"Well, technically it's not, but-"  
  
"Shut up," Geoff laughed, the noise full of disbelief. This could not be happening. "Just... Shit. Ryan."  
  
That name sounded so much better. He could say the name Ryan and it sounded perfect. He thought back to when he'd first seen Ryan's badge, read the name there. Then, when he'd said James, he couldn't seem to get it to fit. Like that wasn't supposed to be a name associated with this person, as if somehow his brain knew there'd been a mistake. Ryan had said it the same way Geoff had, with unease and discomfort. It was like putting a shoe on the wrong foot, the way that it fit but that it felt so wrong that you couldn't wait to be rid of it. The name James wasn't meant to be put onto Ryan, and sure, you could put it on there pretty easily if you wanted to, but that didn't mean it was supposed to be there.  
  
"Yeah, Ryan. So what? It's a name."  
  
"It's not just a name," Geoff chuckled. "It's your name. And it starts with R." He looked up at that, tears in his eyes as they met the bright blue ones before him. Geoff mentally kicked himself for taking this long to notice. The day when he'd found out Ryan's (wrong) name, he'd noted his eye colour. Geoff couldn't explain why, but he he'd remembered it. He should've recognised then why it was so important. He at least should've recognised that the colour was exactly the same as the one he'd seen for the first time when he was just five years old. He should have noticed the colour of Ryan's eyes were the exact same colour as the 'R' on the inside of his thigh.  
  
"Yeah, nice work there, detective," Ryan laughed. He hadn't made the same realisation that Geoff had and the older man let out another laugh, unable to stop himself. "Does this mean you're gonna tell me your name? Or are you busy going insane?"  
  
"Sorry," Geoff said sincerely, managing to stop his laughter, now resorting to grinning like an idiot. "Shit, yeah. Sorry. My name's Geoff."  
  
Ryan's eyes narrowed, tilting his head as he studied the older man. Geoff. Well, Geoff seemed really fucking happy over something. Maybe it was that he had a nice name. Wait, what?  
  
"Have you got a G?" He asked, and that decided it. Ryan was pretty sure Geoff had lost his god damn mind because what kind of question was that‽ Ryan stared back, his face sporting a look of utter confusion. "A G! Well, really you should have two, I guess. I mean, I've got one, and I am one, so I suppose you've got two. Right?"  
  
G. Two G's. Okay, maybe Geoff wasn't insane because that sort of made sense. Ryan did have two G's. And then realisation came and smacked in the face, leaving Ryan standing there with his jaw hanging open. Holy shit.  
  
"Oh my god," he breathed. "You're..."  
  
"One of the six?" Geoff finished. There were tears in Ryan's eyes now too and most of the café had stopped to look over at them, but Geoff was oblivious to the attention they'd drawn to themselves. Ryan didn't answer him, he looked down and held out his left arm. Geoff watched intently as he rubbed furiously at the skin on the inside of his left elbow.  
  
"That's you," he murmured eventually, moving his hand away and extending his arm. There before him Geoff could see it, the letter G scrawled onto Ryan's skin in Geoff's own handwriting. The grey-blue colour was identical to that of Geoff's eyes and he gave a shaky nod, followed by a choked sob. He had no worries in that moment, all his thoughts gone apart from the ones that spun around Ryan and the mark he could see on the younger man's arm.  
  
"I'm so glad you're one of them," Geoff admitted voice breaking as he wiped at his eyes. He didn't think he'd ever been happier than this, experiencing such a complete turn around. He was overcome by relief and happiness, the sudden lack of guilt causing the new emotions to overwhelm him. He'd been worrying over nothing because all this time he'd been concerned about his mates, what they'd think, how he'd failed them. After all that, it turned out the guy he'd fallen for was one of them.  
  
"Me too," Ryan whispered, clearing his throat before speaking again more clearly. "Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how strange it felt writing James all the time when I meant Ryan. Much confuse. But yeah, there was a reason for the R, not a J, which some people asked about. Hope that clears things up some? Also, I hope you liked! 
> 
> See you next chapter?


	4. Swing into Action

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Geoff and Ryan now have to get used to life as a newly met mated couple whilst Burnie has to put up with two lovesick idiots. The rest of the group are still having to cope with a life not including the people they're destined for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter four, yay! Apparently updating this on a Sunday (early hours of Monday morning, but shush) is sort of my thing. I'm gonna aim for weekly Sunday updates, but I'm not gonna promise that because sometimes I can't get the chapters to come out right.
> 
> Anyways! I thought we'd go and check up on some of the lads here, see how they're doing. And of course, you get Geoff and Ryan now being together. So, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Big thanks to everyone who's reading this, too. Kudos, comments, any sort of sign that you like this means a lot to me and really makes me wanna write more of this. Thank you again! And if there's anything you want to see in this fic, or even if you have other RT/AH prompts, do feel free to either comment, message me here or [on my tumblr.](http://sideoftheangelstaketheimpala.tumblr.com/ask) I'm always looking to write more in this fandom and I'd like to be able to include stuff you wanna see.
> 
> Huge ass author's note over, I'll let you go read now. Enjoy!

Growing up in New York could be pretty tough, but really, there were worse places to be. For all the downsides the city had, the people there were generally open-minded and fairly accepting. This was something that Ray was very thankful for, or at least he would be one day. When he was young, before he was old enough to understand what marks really were, he was always fascinated by the ones he had. Being in New York City meant that when Ray started school, most other people were interested in them too. If it were anywhere else, he probably would've gotten a lot of hassle for it, but not here. That was one of the reasons why they even moved up here in the first place.

Whereas most people got one mark in their lives, Ray was born with three. As if that wasn't enough, he'd gotten another two before his second birthday even arrived. His mother had no idea what to do about it, and so nothing was said on the matter. Ray had five marks, he had for as long as he could remember, and that was that.

He found it strange when he started school and nearly half the other kids in his class didn't even have one letter on their skin. The majority of Ray's were usually covered up by his clothes, but he talked eagerly about them, not knowing it was out of the ordinary. He didn't notice the way his teacher would give him funny looks as he showed off some of the usually hidden marks. Some of the older kids got jealous sometimes, saying that Ray was mean because he had five when they had none, but Ray knew that wasn't his fault. He also knew that, regardless of what they were always told at play time, it wouldn't be good to share these with the other children. His marks were the one thing he would never think about giving to anyone else, even if that were possible.

After the first few weeks of school, the novelty of Ray's marks had worn off and he was usually just left alone. Honestly, he didn't mind all that much. It was pretty annoying to have half his class all over him, and whilst he enjoyed showing off his marks, it got boring doing it all the time.

By the time he was six, nobody really cared about it, or about him. It was just something that people had accepted about him and they moved on. Sure, Ray got the occasional person who got mad over it, but he kept his head down and avoided fights. Ray was more than happy to just remain quiet, usually on his own. He didn't have all that many friends, only a few people that he talked to every day and that didn't bother him. He was happy enough on his own.

The same could not be said about all of Ray's mates. One of them in particular, Michael Jones, was certainly not dealing so well with the five letters littering his body. Michael didn't have the fortune of growing up in a fairly open minded community like Ray did, but it helped to shape Michael all the same. New Jersey was tough, so Michael had to be tough to deal with it. He didn't even have the support of his parents, who usually said things to him that were just as bad, if not worse, than the slurs he heard in school or on the streets. Michael learned to respond in a similar way. If his mother raised his voice, he'd do the same, if his brother insulted him then Michael would lash out. Even when he was just nine years old, Michael was angry pretty much all the time.

He got angry at his family, angry at pretty much everyone in school, angry at all the people in his neighbourhood who would give him dirty looks when they passed him and steer their children away from him like he had some horribly contagious disease. It annoyed him that everyone was so petty, that they judged him because of a few letters on his skin. Michael wasn't very good at containing his anger, either. He had a short fuse, not taking long before he'd start screaming and cursing at whoever it was that had pissed him off.

When he had been a little younger, Michael had been annoyed at himself and the stupid universe for screwing him over and giving him four too many letters than he was supposed to have. Michael saw himself as a mess for a while, and when that was left it grew into anger toward whoever the five people were that were represented all over him. He was annoyed that they weren't here, that he had to put up with a load of abuse on his own. Really, that just made Michael more resilient. He came to realise that they'd be just the same, wherever they were, he wasn't there. They didn't have him and so they were in the same boat as he was. So he forgave them and he forgave himself, leaving Michael's anger to fall upon the rest of the world.

Michael gained a reputation for having a fiery temper that matched the bright colour of his hair, not one to put up with shit from anyone. He didn't get a break; if he wasn't being muttered about it school or pointed at on the street then he was getting hassle off his parents and brother back home. Apparently, his reputation didn't carry on with him when Michael started middle school.

Things were pretty quiet the first few days, but Michael was pretty sure it wasn't going to last. His suspicions were right. When he came into school a week after they'd started in the fall the looks had started up again. Michael was the little fish in a big pond and it seemed most people underestimated him. Word must have gotten out about Michael's situation because he'd barely been in school five minutes before a gang of boys who looked about two years older than Michael himself approached him as he stood at his locker.

"Hey there, kid," one of them said in an over-friendly voice. Michael could see already where this was going to go and decided that he'd just try and ignore them. After a few moments silence they moved in closer, but Michael stared straight ahead refusing to look at them.

"What the matter?" Another piped up. "You can't talk?"

"It's always the quiet ones you gotta watch out for," a tall boy laughed. "Think they're okay and then they end up as sluts." And that about did it. Michael's head turned, hands clenched into fists by his sides.

"Clearly you haven't heard all that much about me if you think I'm quiet," he sneered.

"Oh it does speak!" The tall guy from before chuckled, nudging one of his friends.

"Sure I fucking speak, I'm not stupid. I just don't waste my time with ass holes like you."

"Hey, watch who you're calling an ass, you little bitch," the apparent leader if the group warned, moving in closer as if trying to threaten Michael. The younger boy wasn't intimated.

"You got a problem?" He demanded, standing up straight and staring at each member of the group in turn.

"Hell yeah we got a problem. We don't wanna see you and all that shit here," he sneered, motioning toward Michael.

"All that shit?" The red-head repeated, eyes narrowing dangerously. He scoffed, head tilted in a way he knew would show the mark on the side of his neck. "What, you never seen a mark before?"

"Of course we've seen one!" A new voice replied. "But only one, not hundreds like you've got."

"I guess you're even more stupid than I thought, since you can't even fucking count to five."

"Five's still four too many. We don't wanna see that crap, you got it?" The leader said threateningly, now right up in Michael's personal space, mere inches between them.

"What, you mean this?" Michael shot back, his arm coming up and twisting slightly to show the mark on his inner elbow. "You scared of a some letters? I bet you can't read either, huh?"

"Don't take that shit, Cory!"

Cory, apparently, decided to take his friend's advice, quickly reaching out to grab Michael by the wrist and push him backwards against the lockers. Michael was silently very thankful to his mystery mate for having his mark on the left arm. He acted practically out of instinct, waiting only a heartbeat before his right hand moved from where it hung at his side. Michael swung with a strong arm, his fist flying up and catching Cory right on his nose. The angered boy heard a satisfying crack and then the hand on his arm was gone. Michael was still angry, though, not having finished taking out his rage on this bully. He took advantage of the surprise he'd caused, surging forward and shoving at the older boy with a surprising strength. The rest of the group stepped back quickly as Cory was pushed onto the floor. Michael stood there above him, teeth gritted and fists clenched again as the anger rolled off him in waves.

"Maybe you wanna think twice before being an ass about some fucking marks next time," he warned before kicking hard between the guy's legs. Cory groaned as Michael's foot hit his crotch and the ginger seemed satisfied. He turned and headed off toward his classroom, leaving Cory on the floor clutching his bleeding nose in one hand and his balls with the other, all his friends now worried about him and paying no attention to anything else going on around them. Similarly, Michael ignored the people staring and muttering about him after seeing the whole ordeal. That should be enough to teach them all that Michael Jones didn't put up with dicks who judged him and his mates.  


* * *

  
After all that had happened with Ryan at the coffee shop, Geoff was down at Haywired much more often and usually without Burnie. The two still hung out with each other of course; they were best friends, after all. It was just that Geoff felt this need to be around Ryan as much as he could. Burnie understood completely, always telling his friend that he didn't mind being left sometimes for Geoff to see one off his mates. It wasn't long either before Ryan started coming round to Burnie and Geoff's shared apartment. Geoff had quickly discovered that Ryan shared their passion for computers and video games, so even Burnie was more than happy to have the teenager with them. Sometimes on weekends Ryan would even stay over, passing out on the couch beside Geoff after they'd been playing into the early hours of the morning. Burnie never commented on the way he'd come into the living room at a more respectable time of the morning to find them curled up against each other, but that didn't mean he stopped himself from smiling at it or being happy for them.

Their arrangement was pretty much perfect, and that's what found the couple sat side-by-side on the floor one Saturday evening, their backs against the couch as they played Super Mario on the N64 that Geoff and Burnie had somehow managed to buy between them. Ryan wasn't actually playing right now, just watching as Geoff's little plumber jumped around on screen collecting coins. Silences between them were not uncommon and were never awkward or uncomfortable. Both of them were more than happy to just be with one another, not needing a constant stream of conversation to keep them at ease. However, Ryan wasn't really at ease right now since there was something nagging at his mind. He'd gotten the idea over a week ago now and hadn't been able to rid himself of it since. He decided that he'd tell Geoff tonight, feeling excited and just a little nervous about the whole thing.

"Let me come live with you," Ryan piped up from nowhere. Geoff was shocked by the sudden outburst from his mate, his character dying on-screen as Geoff failed to jump on top of a mushroom. Ryan sat there, looking away from the words 'Game Over' to focus his attention on Geoff.

"What?"

"Let me come and live with you," Ryan repeated easily, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Geoff looked back at him for a few moments, staring into Ryan's eyes and being secretly astounded by how adamant the gaze that met his was.

"You're serious," He breathed out, setting down the controller on the floor in front of him.

"Yeah, of course I'm serious. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, Ryan, it's just... You're still pretty young." Geoff regretted that right after he said it and had to watch Ryan's smile falter. He knew the age gap was nothing compared to him and whoever their youngest mate was.

"You're old enough to take care of me," Ryan responded easily, still trying to stay relaxed. Geoff hadn't said no, so that was a good thing. "I've looked into it! There are a bunch of laws for this kinda stuff with mates. You're legally allowed to be my guardian if you're over eighteen, and you are. So you have as much right as my parents do and I don't have to stay at home. I can come live with you. Besides, I'll be graduating next year, so it's not like it's a huge deal."

"You've really thought this through, huh?" Geoff replied with a little smile, reaching over and grabbing his glass of coke (with just a little whiskey in, because he didn't like drinking a lot around Ryan). The younger of the two just grinned sheepishly and nodded his head. Geoff sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair as he ran the thought through his head. "Ryan, you know how much I'd love having you here all the time. This isn't me trying to get out of it or anything, I don't want you to think that. I'd love to be able to wake up every day with you or come home to find you just sat on the couch or whatever. But there's more to it than just that.

"For a start, I don't have the money to give you all the shit you need. I get hardly anything from that part time thing I've got and it's not fair if you've gotta live through a dumb college lifestyle twice. That, and it's not just me who lives here. I've got Burnie to think of too, remember?" Geoff spoke without taking his eyes of his partner, shuffling closer on the floor until their sides were pressed up together. Ryan shot him a satisfied smile and Geoff knew that he hadn't finished making his case.

"You wouldn't need to pay for me. I already spoke to my parents about everything. My mom was a little upset, but she could see where I was coming from. My dad said so long as I keep working the same shifts at the café then he'll keep paying me and send you whatever they normally spend on me every month!" Ryan continued excitedly. "Sure, we'll have to talk to Burnie and everything, but aside from that, we've got support from my folks, and we're both okay with it. So?"

"So, I guess we gotta talk to Burnie," Geoff laughed, the noise cut off by the gentle press of Ryan's lips against his own.  


* * *

  
When their discussion had ended, Geoff and Ryan simply went back to playing Mario. They took turns, completing a level each or playing until one of them died. They stayed pressed against one another, Geoff occasionally poking Ryan in the side when he was doing particularly well. Ryan would squirm and complain at Geoff, but the tickling touches wouldn't cease.

"Hah! You died again," Geoff declared triumphantly, taking a sip of his drink in celebration.

"How am I supposed to stay alive when you're doing that?" Ryan laughed, poking Geoff back and grinning wickedly when the older man tried wriggling away.

"Ryan, no, quit it!" He begged between giggles, swatting at the teen as he fell onto his back. Ryan didn't let up, leaning over to fully tickle Geoff's sides. "Get off!"

The two kept at it, rolling around on the floor in their newly invented game of tickle-wrestling, the sounds of their laughing filling up the small apartment. Burnie could hear them before he even got to the door. The two stopped when they heard Geoff's room mate return, Ryan pushing up off the floor and smiling at the sight of Burnie.

"Hey," he greeted breathlessly, the words met with a laugh from the oldest of the three.

"Don't let me stop you," he replied, closing the door and heading over toward them. Geoff moved from where he had been hovering over Ryan, flopping on the floor beside his boyfriend and giving his best friend a wave. Yes, he may be a little tipsy, and also slightly hyper after his and Ryan's play fight. But it was Saturday night, so who cared, really?

"You have a good night?" Geoff asked, eyes following Burnie as he came to sit on the couch, facing them.

"Yeah, it was okay I guess. Don't think I had as much fun as you guys did, though, from the looks of things." Ryan chuckled at that, his head falling onto Geoff's shoulder as an arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him in closer. Geoff shrugged, a lazy smile on his own lips.

"We found out Ryan sucks at Mario," he offered. "That was pretty funny."

"No! We found out that it's really hard to concentrate when you won't leave my sides alone," the younger defended. Burnie gave another laugh, shaking his head at the two and getting up to go and grab a beer from the fridge, telling them that he'd be right back. Ryan looked up at Geoff from where he was positioned on his lover's shoulder. "Are we gonna ask him now?"

"I guess we can, if you want? I mean we don't need to rush or anything, but it's down to you," Geoff said supportively, giving Ryan a gentle squeeze and getting a nod in reply. Burnie returned shortly, resuming his position on the couch and looking down at the couple on the floor.

"You two okay down there?"

"Furniture's over rated," Ryan said seriously, only laughing when Geoff giggled beside him. "That wasn't even funny!"

"Was funny to me, man. Oh, hey, Burnie?"

"Hm?" He hummed, swallowing down his beer. "What's up?"

"Ryan had something he wanted to ask you about."

"Not just me! Geoff wants to know too."

"Yeah, whatever, just ask him," Geoff hurried. Burnie watched them with amusement, happy to see them like this rather than moping over each other. This was much better, and he was quickly getting used to the pair.

"Yeah, just ask me," Burnie echoed, his curiosity grabbed by his friends (he wasn't sure when he started calling Ryan a friend, but really it just seemed right).

"Well, see, I was looking up some laws and whatever, and there's a ton of stuff on mate rights. And it turns out that since Geoff is older than eighteen, then he's allowed to be my guardian, which means I'm allowed to live with him. But living with him means that you'd have to live with me too, so I thought we'd better, y'know, talk about it?"

"You can really do that?" Was all Burnie offered them in reply, looking between Geoff and Ryan's faces, both of them wearing expectant expressions as they awaited an answer. Ryan was chewing on his lower lip out of nerves and Geoff had picked his drink up again, draining what he had left in his glass before shrugging.

"If we want to, yeah. His parents are cool with it and are still gonna pay for him like normal or whatever. It's just a case of him actually moving in."

"Yeah, sure," Burnie said easily.

"Wait, what?" Ryan perked up, eyes widening as he lifted his head up. "I can?"

"Well, yeah. I can't exactly keep you two apart, can I? Besides, you're here whenever you can be as it is and you sleep here most weekends. So yeah, why not?"

"Awesome! When can I move in?"

"How about we get tonight done with first and we'll think about that in the morning, yeah?" Geoff suggested, though he was clearly just as pleased about the whole thing as Ryan was.

"I think I'll have to show you both up in Mario before Ryan decides if he's gonna stay," Burnie teased, setting his beer can on the side table.

"Bring it!" Geoff and Ryan yelled in unison, scrambling back to their positions from earlier, propped up against the couch. As Ryan sat there, still pressed into Geoff's side whilst Burnie started the game back up he decided that he had no doubts at all about moving into this apartment. Sure it was pretty small, and it wasn't really as nice as his house, but Geoff was here, and Burnie too. He'd quickly adjust to this, the easy relaxed atmosphere, the teasing and the infectious laughter that flooded the place and clung to the walls. He felt happy here, happy like he'd never felt before. He knew then, even as a seventeen year-old boy, that he'd be happy as long as he could be with Geoff, because this is where he belonged.


	5. Drop in the Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan's moved in, Geoff's drinking less and Burnie's feeling just a little left out. While they plan for the future, the rest of their mates are just getting started in life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took way too long to write, it's short and not great, so I'm very sorry about that. Life's getting pretty hectic right now so I'm writing and posting where and when ever I can. I'll try and be more regular about it, but like I said before, I can't promise much. Also, there's something I wanted to clear up regarding this universe. I'll put that at the bottom.
> 
> So, New York, right? In two weeks time I'll be there. Whatever, let's go see how Ray's doing. And check up on Michael again.... I'm still debating where to go with Jack and Gavin, but I'm nearly there. For now, you get to have more fluffy, domestic Ramwood and a little more Burnie.
> 
> As usual, ideas, feedback and whatever is much appreciated. Enjoy!

Michael had never really liked school trips, no matter their location. He didn't see the appeal of going out and spending longer than was necessary with a bunch of people he mostly disliked. It was even worse when they went for more than a day, staying overnight somewhere when he'd have to share room with his classmates. There was really nothing appealing about it, and if Michael could avoid going on them, then he would do everything in his power to stay home. Most of the time he was fairly successful, but in this instance, he was not. The trip was free, with parents only having to pay for their children to travel, covering the cost of the coach. It was that one thing that had led Michael to be in this position, sitting alone on some bus and staring out the window on his way to New York City. The class had been looking at Ellis Island as part of a history project and so a trip to the museum there had been organised. Of course, there were other activities planned for their three day stay in New York, none of which Michael was looking forward to. He heaved a heavy sigh, grumbling under his breath about stupid school trips before closing his eyes and pressing his forehead against the window. He wasn't sure what was worse, the thought of having to spend three days and two whole nights with other members of his class or knowing he still had to go home to his stupid neighbourhood after it.

The coach turned and Michael jerked awake, his eyes opening quickly, as though he had been shaken from his sleep. He looked out of the window, blinking a few times not only to wake himself up, but to take in the sight that greeted him. The city lay before him, not quite in front of him, but he could see it, the skyscrapers in the distance that Michael could barely have imagined the height of before now. He tried not to feel excited about it, didn't want to make a big deal out of what was really just going to be a few days in a city. It probably wouldn't even be that exciting. Of course, as they got closer and closer, it was pretty hard to keep believing that. Michael would say it over and over in his head, remind himself of how stupid this whole thing was going to be. Still, somewhere in him, he was excited as they drove through the streets of New York and he wouldn't admit it, but he was practically buzzing by the time they pulled up to their hotel.

After a quick check in and time to sort out their rooms and belongings, Michael's class were back outside again. Since they wouldn't be visiting Ellis Island until tomorrow, they had a trip to the American Museum of Natural History scheduled to occupy them today. They would be walking pretty much everywhere, which only helped with lowering Michael's mood. He was sure that he'd be sick of even hearing the word 'museum' by the time he got back home. Whatever. He walked along the busy streets, careful to stay with the group from fear of getting lost in a place this big, but hanging toward the back nonetheless. Their teacher would stop them every block or two, making sure that nobody had got lost as they were walking. Which wouldn't be all that difficult, since their group would frequently be split into smaller ones as other people walked amongst them. Michael gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to glare at the passing strangers, instead keeping his head ducked down slightly as he went. He snapped when someone stopped unexpectedly in front of him, his eyes looking up to stare daggers into whoever it was he had bumped into.

"Hey, watch where you're going," the red-head practically snarled, his anger growing at the knowledge he had walked into one of his classmates. Who it was exactly, Michael couldn't remember, or at least couldn't identify from the back of a head.

"Oh! S-sorry," came the reply as the shorter boy turned quickly to face Michael. "I didn't mean to, I just... They stopped," he supplied lamely, waving a hand to the rest of the group who had indeed stopped to be counted again. Michael's eyes narrowed as he looked back at the other kid, trying to figure out why he didn't recognise him. Sure, Michael didn't really hang out with the people in his class, but he saw them all every day, enough to recognise faces, even if he couldn't put a name to them. But this boy wasn't someone from Michael's school, which didn't explain why he seemed so familiar.

"What're you doing here?" He demanded, oblivious to the rest of the people around them.

"I live here," was all Michael got in reply, which caused him to roll his eyes.

"No, dumb ass, _here._ With our group."

"Oh! Yeah, I was just walking and I got pushed in amongst you guys," he mumbled. "Sorry?"

"Yeah, you better be sorry. You can't just tag along with whoever the hell you like and get all up in their space! I nearly knocked you over then, and it would've been your own fault for being in my damn way," Michael ranted, his face red as he let out his frustration. Maybe later he'd regret taking his anger out on an unsuspecting stranger, but right now Michael was pretty content to shout and poke at the little kid, no matter how many pairs of eyes he could feel watching him. The boy himself certainly wasn't helping in any way, just standing there and letting Michael yell, all the while doing nothing but watch him with his head tilted curiously. Michael had stopped rambling now, was mere inches away from this kid with his finger prodding his chest, his breathing heavy as he made a concious effort to calm the hell down. Only then did the smaller boy react, his brow furrowing as he brought a hand up slowly to touch Michael's outstretched arm.

"You've got one," the dark-haired stranger said softly, fingers hovering above the G that was now visible on the inside of Michael's elbow.

"Get the hell away from it!" Michael said defensively, quickly pulling his arm back. He looked back at the shorter kid, wondering why he felt guilty about the look that met him. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," he insisted, holding up his hands for a moment before moving and taking off his jacket. Michael's curiosity had been sparked now and he waited, wondering what the hell the boy was doing. Michael was pretty sure he was nuts. "Look."

"Holy shit," Michael breathed as his eyes fell upon just what it was short-kid had wanted to show him. His left arm was outstretched, twisted so his palm was facing upwards. There in front of him Michael saw the same letter G that was etched into his own skin. The mark was identical, the location, colour and script of this letter an exact replica of the one Michael had worn all his life. The small boy hummed in acknowledgement, shuffling his feet slowly. "Is that your only one?"

"Nope," the kid replied, taking a deep breath before saying any more. "I've got another four. D-do... Do you?"

"Yup, I've got five."

"What's your name?" The smaller boy asked, blinking up at Michael expectantly.

"Michael."

"I've got an M," the kid muttered to himself, and next thing Michael knew he was on the floor, rolling up his jeans. By now there were a fair number of people, not just Michael's classmates, but random people, who had stopped to witness the scene. Michael waited, following the boy's finger when he pointed to the M on his knee. "See? That must be you."

"What's your name?" Asked Michael sceptically, still pretty much in shock over the whole thing which was, quite frankly, crazy. Michael was just waiting to wake up any minute now.

"Ray," the boy said, getting back onto his feet and dusting himself off.

"I've got two R's."

"I have one on my leg?" Ray supplied, not sure if that would be of use.

"Me too. The other's on my foot. I... I guess that's you?"

"I guess so," the tanned kid nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. Michael laughed breathlessly, letting some sort of instinct take over and reaching out to grab Ray's hand, grasping it tightly in his own.

"Hey, Ray," he chuckled, still unable to believe this was happening. This was his damn soulmate and Michael had literally just bumped into him on the street.

"Still wondering what I'm doing here?" Came the witty reply and Michael only laughed further, a genuine smile that he couldn't contain taking over his expression. The little part of him that was excited before had spread through his whole body and Michael couldn't ever remember being this happy. Perhaps the whole trip wasn't going to suck completely after all.  
  


* * *

   
Now that Ryan was living with them, both Geoff and Burnie had started to drink less. It wasn't a concious decision from either of them, it was just something that happened. Geoff didn't find that much need for it now, since before he'd started because he wanted to drown his sorrows over the whole mark issue, which obviously didn't exist any more. That and he felt slightly weird drinking around his younger boyfriend. Burnie spent a fair bit of time with Geoff and Ryan and saw no fun in having a drink by himself, so he started consuming less alcohol too. Sure, they still had the occasional few beers (sometimes whiskey, if Geoff felt like it) on the weekend, but never as many as they used to.

Besides the reduced alcohol consumption, nothing else had really changed. Ryan still worked at Haywired most evenings and if Geoff wasn't busy, he'd go down and just be with him, drinking coffee and chatting. They always found something to talk about. He still visited with Burnie, only not so often, since Burnie didn't like getting between the two all the time. Ryan would work, Geoff would work, and when they weren't busy with their jobs or education then they'd almost certainly be together. Ryan worked all through the week, his shifts changing regularly, but Sunday was always his day off. It was partially because of this that Saturday was designated their apartment game night. The three men would all stay up until the early hours of morning, competing with each other, not only on their shared game console, but in reality to see who could stay up the longest. Usually Geoff and Ryan would end up curled against one another, with Burnie not too far away. They would take turns, changing the games often to avoid getting bored and it was a great way for the three of them to relax after a rather stressful week.

Their Saturday night gaming sessions were also when Burnie and Geoff would usually give in and have a drink. Ryan insisted that he didn't mind, since the two never got more than tipsy anyway. That and it was hilarious watching them trying to operate game controls under the influence of alcohol. Right now Ryan was kicking Burnie's ass in Doom and probably having way too much fun doing so. Geoff had his head resting on Ryan's shoulder, letting out seemingly random giggles when either of them died or even jumped. The death match ended and Burnie sighed, dropping the controller onto the floor in front of where he was sat.

"You sucked at that," Geoff teased, still laughing to himself. "Don't give up your day job."

"I don't have a day job," Burnie retorted.

"Yeah, well when you get one, make sure it's not playing video games."

"That'd be the best job ever," Ryan commented idly, already imagining it.

"Man, we wouldn't even need to be here! Imagine that Burns, we could drop out of college and just get paid for playing games."

"Who the hell is gonna pay us for that?" The oldest of the three laughed, grabbing another beer for himself.

"Hey, it's an idea in progress, okay? I'm working on it," Geoff said with a firm nod.

"If you figure it out, let me know. I have no idea what I'm gonna do when I leave college."

"What're you gonna do in college?" Geoff asked his boyfriend, voice full of curiosity. He and Ryan hadn't really talked about their futures together, and he wanted to know.

"I'm still not sure. Something with computers, or maybe theatre. We'll see," Ryan shrugged.

"You know where you're gonna go?" Burnie piped in. Ryan bit his lip then, eyes going to Geoff beside him, knowing they'd need to discuss that together. Ryan knew he couldn't leave the older man, no matter what else he chose to do.

"Not exactly," the youngest man admitted. "I just... I don't wanna stay here."

"So, where are we gonna go?" Ryan blinked and looked back at Geoff, unable to believe how ready he had been to agree to Ryan's plans. Geoff hadn't even thought on it, hadn't considered arguing or questioning why they couldn't stay. He sounded so ready, like he'd go and pack up his belongings and leave right now if that's what his mate wanted to do. Ryan wasn't sure how to feel about that. Flattered and astounded were certainly winning right now, though.

"Some other state? I don't know. I want to leave home, though. Go all out. I guess I have to decide pretty quick, huh?"

"You got one year left of high school?" Burnie queried.

"Yeah, one year."

"Then we're gonna start looking for colleges," Geoff decided, pressing a quick kiss to Ryan's cheek which made the younger blush slightly. Burnie watched the two with a small smile, glad that they had each other. Seeing how right they were together made him really realise how strong, how important marks and the relationships they represented were. It made him look down at his hand, at the dark brown, almost black, coloured J that sat there, looking back up at him. With a glance to the two of his best friends, Burnie sighed, knowing that whoever it was that he was meant to be with had some pretty good expectations to live up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for anyone who is confused about how the marks work, because I've had a few questions regarding the age at which you get a mark in this verse. I had a really weird idea that I think I explained well once, so I'm just going to copy that here.
> 
> Basically, there needs to be at least a three year gap between mates in order for the mark to show up. In normal cases with two people, you'll get a mark on the eldest's third birthday. For example, Ray would get a mark for Michael when Michael turns three. However, people like Geoff were already older than three when Ray was born, so Ray just gets that mark right away. That's about as simply as I can put it.
> 
> Hoped that helped! If you have any other queries, please ask me!


	6. Finding Your Feet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's been worrying for as long as he can remember, and doesn't seem like he's going to be calm until he can take care of the five important people in his life. Ryan finds his calling and Burnie finds a friend. Geoff's just happy to go with the flow for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took for ever, I am so sorry! Real life hit me hard with exams and I've been struggling to find time to write. Stress, man. It sucks! Also, Jack's in this chapter and apparently I find it hard to write him. I need to work on that.
> 
> But I'm back! Hopefully updates for this will pick up a decent pace again now. Sorry that this chapter wasn't really worth the wait, but I hope you'll enjoy it anyway.
> 
> Huge thanks to everyone who reads this and takes the time to leave kudos and comments. You're my favourite kind of people and you bring me inspiration when I'm lacking.

For as long as he could remember, Jack had been someone who worries. A lot. In fact, one of his earliest memories was him, as a five year old boy, working himself up into a panic as pain shot through his knee. He'd looked and saw another mark in addition to the two he had already, his young mind connecting the idea of soul mates and pain in a rather negative way. The boy had stroked the letter M over and over again, mumbling to himself until his parents found him, hidden under his bed.  
  
"Jack?" His father had said quietly, whilst his mother tried to coax him out. "What's wrong?"  
  
"They're hurting," he replied, moving his hand away to show the mark. "They're hurting and I can't make it stop, Dad, I... I don't want them to hurt."  
  
His parents shared a concerned look before his mother sighed softly. Jack wasn't old enough to recognise the disappointment in her eyes.  
  
"They're not hurting, Jack, it's okay. It just stings a little, so you know they're there," she explained. At this, Jack sniffled, crawling out from beneath his bed.  
  
"They… they're not hurting?" He echoed.  
  
"No, buddy. They're just fine, I promise," his dad said, ruffling his hair. "Now come on, let's go make some cookies, huh?"  
  
"Yeah!" Jack replied enthusiastically, jumping to his feet. "I have to learn so I can make them for my mates."  
  


* * *

  
"Would you chill out?" Griffon laughed, watching Jack pace about, back and forth in front of her. "You'll wear the carpet through." 

"It's not funny!" The boy protested, shooting his friend a half-hearted glare.  
  
"No, that's true," she replied, still smirking. "It's not even your carpet. Now quit it, would you? Someone's gonna show up sooner or later and you can't do your job if you've worried yourself to death."  
  
"Yeah," Jack sighed, stopping his pacing and looking up at the girl. "You're right."  
  
"I'm always right!" Griffon beamed, causing Jack to crack a smile in return. He sat himself down behind the counter again, his eyes scanning the still empty arcade. If he were being honest, Jack loved his job here, but on days like today when it was dead and he was left alone to over think everything, it sucked. Having his best friend around really helped with that.  
  
"I just can't help but wonder how they're all doing, y'know? I mean, I'm seventeen years old and I haven't met any of them yet!"  
  
"Hey, I haven't met mine either, have I?" She replied softly, giving Jack a little grin. "It's okay, we're not ancient or anything."  
  
"I know that," Jack sighed. "I just feel like everyone else has someone. And... And if I get shit about my marks, then they're bound to get some too, and I'm not with them, so I can't—"  
  
"Okay, Jack? You need to chill. Really, I'm sure they're doing okay."  
  
"Don't you ever worry?" He mumbled, his posture slumping slightly as he tried to listen to Griffon, tried not to be so tense. "About whoever yours is?"  
  
"Of course I do, dummy," Griffon laughed, ruffling her friend's ginger hair. "But you have to see it as an adventure! It's like any day could be the day you bump into them and your whole life will get turned around. It's exciting!"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"And hey, they're out they're somewhere, thinking of you. A few of them might even have hooked up, since there's six of you. And on top of that, you'd flip if you knew any one of them were worried about you, Jack. So relax, alright?"  
  
"Yeah," Jack said in reply, forcing himself to smile. "That's true. I just don't think I can help the worrying."  
  
"I'm not saying don't be worried about them!" Griffon said hurriedly, quickly backtracking before Jack started getting stressed over that too. "That would be weird. You're supposed to care and all. I'm just saying, you need to have fun too! Don't spend all your time biting your nails or pacing back and forth thinking of them. And you know where you can start?" Jack gave a genuine grin, tilting his head a little.  
  
"Where?"  
  
"There!" Griffon yelled, jumping down from her perch on the counter and pointing out into the arcade. "The place is empty, so you're free to have you ass kicked on Soul Calibur."  
  
"Hey, you told me I needed to have fun, not to let you win!" Jack retorted, causing both Griffon and he to start laughing as they made their way over to the machine. At least for the time being, Jack could be relaxed. Well, as relaxed as you can get whilst trying to beat your friend on a video game, at least.   
  


* * *

  
"Hey guys," Burnie called out as he entered their tiny apartment. A quick look around the living room revealed that neither Ryan nor Geoff were there, but a yell from the kitchen told him where to find them. 

  
"Out here, dude!" Geoff shouted in reply, Burnie joining them moments later. He stepped into the room and took in the sight before him, smiling a little to himself. Geoff and Ryan were sat side by side at the table, which you could hardly see. All of the wooden surface had been covered in college brochures and pages of notes in Ryan's writing.  
  
"How's it going?" He asked the couple with a nod to the table.  
  
"Terrible," Ryan replied quickly, not looking away from the current prospectus he was flicking through. One look at the guy told Burnie just how much this was getting to him, how frustrated Ryan was. And that was certainly something that Burnie could relate too. Often he felt a little out of the loop, like he and Ryan didn't have all that much in common, that they sort of got along, just because they both had a closeness to Geoff. But as he saw him right now, running his fingers through his hair in stress, Burnie felt he was on Ryan's level. He may even have a way to help.  
  
"Hey, picking colleges is never easy man. Geoff can back me up on that."  
  
"Yeah, I'm pretty convinced myself already," Ryan replied, sounding defeated.  
  
"You're spending too long looking into these things," Burnie explained, picking up a brochure. "You need to get out, relax." He looked at Ryan, then allowed his gaze to fall in Geoff, fixing his best friend with a pointed stare. "Both of you."  
  
"Huh. And what would you suggest, genius?" Geoff replied, clearly expecting Burnie to be unprepared. Burnie smirked, glad as always to prove Geoff wrong.  
  
"This!" He exclaimed, pulling what looked like a leaflet out of his pocket, unfolding it before setting on the table between the two lovers, so they both could see. The pair read over the small poster and Burnie smiled a little to himself as he saw Ryan's face light up as his eyes scanned the words. The poster read:  
  
'Film club! Are you interested in writing, producing, directing or performing in film? Then sign up to film club and help to create short movies, whatever your talent. No experience needed. If interested, contact Matt.' Scrawled at the bottom was an address for a dorm room, not all that far from their own, and also a phone number.  
  
"That sounds awesome!" Ryan exclaimed, the enthusiasm rolling off of him in waves. One look at Geoff told him that his best friend wasn't so sold on the idea. "Isn't that great?"  
  
He may not be convinced, but his mate's happiness was infectious, and Geoff couldn't help that his lips twitched up into a smile. He couldn't remember seeing Ryan so passionate, so excited by something.  
  
"It's awesome, buddy. You should totally check it out," Geoff backed up Ryan with a small grin.  
  
"Well yeah, but I can't turn up alone. Burnie got this on campus, the place is gonna be filled with college students."  
  
"Well, Burnie's probably gonna go. Right, Burns?" He said, looking up at his childhood friend expectantly.  
  
"Well sure, I was gonna go take a look and—"  
  
"See, Ry? You and Burnie can go. That way, you'll know somebody."  
  
As much Burnie would like to get to know the younger guy a little more, this didn't sound like a great idea. And he didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Ryan wasn't too keen on the prospect either.  
  
"You could tag along too, Geoff?" Burnie suggested lightly. Sure, Geoff had never shown that much interest in films, not in the way Burnie had. He recalled their senior year in high school, when Burnie was writing scripts and Geoff was considering joining the army when he left school, for lack of anything else that he felt strongly about. Sure, he'd gone to college in the end, but the elder was still pretty certain that Geoff couldn't care less if he failed the course, or even if he dropped out of his sociology classes tomorrow.  
  
"I don't know man," Geoff sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He could feel Ryan and Burnie staring at him, but he refused to meet either of their gazes. "That doesn't really sound like my area, y'know? I think you two would be better at it."  
  
"We'd all be working together," Ryan countered, leaning in a little closer. Geoff shied away slightly and for the first time in years, Burnie recognised something that he thought Geoff had forgotten how to feel. Self conscious. He knew he had to step in and talk Geoff out of this before he started putting himself down over things.  
  
"Yeah, it's not like you'd be on your on. You can learn pretty quickly. And hey, you're not gonna know until you try, right?"  
  
Geoff knew when he was defeated. He shot Burnie a quick glare, but his expression softened when his eyes fell on Ryan. The teen was grinning like it was Christmas, his blue eyes lit up and sparkling. Geoff was sure his boyfriend's smile couldn't have been wider if Ryan had tried.  
  
"Shut up," he laughed, giving Ryan a gentle shove before quickly bumping their foreheads together in a gesture of affection. Burnie took that as his cue to leave.  
  
He turned quietly and left the couple mumbling to each other in the kitchen, falling down onto the couch and turning on the TV. He ignore the pang of jealousy that shot through him, knowing he'd have that some day. It just sucked that he lived with two mates as close as those guys, that was all. Burnie know they didn't do it on purpose, they were just being themselves. Still, that didn't stop him from feeling that their relationship was being rubbed up in his face.  
  
Somewhere, Burnie's mate was sat feeling the same way, he was sure. At lest he hoped.  
  


* * *

  
Matt and Burnie hit it off right away. The two had met before, with Matt having attended a few of the small classes that Burnie had run in order to teach people about editing and them both doing work with Sneak Peak (if you really stretched to calling that work). Despite this, the two had never had a real conversation or worked on a huge project together, and they quickly found that they'd been missing out. They had the same sense of humour, both of them sarcastic and annoying when they wanted to be. They bounced off each other, and the energy between them was obvious.  
  
Their first proper conversation happened when Burnie went around to ask the other guy about film club, wanting to check it was okay for Ryan to tag along. Matt seamed to naturally just wind people up and Burnie could relate to that. They joked around a bit, and Matt even invited Burnie to stay for a while and go on his PlayStation. Whilst the offer of beating Matt on Mortal Kombat was appealing, Burnie had a class to get to. So that was left for another time and the pair quickly became good friends.  
  
To Geoff, watching them, he would've sworn they were meant to be together, and he imagined that looking at how quickly Matt and Burnie's relationship developed would have been similar to Burnie witnessing how quickly he and Ryan got close as soon as they met. Still, the 'J' that Geoff often saw on his friend's hand crushed the idea that they were destined for each other, but in a way Geoff thought that better. Not that what he had with Ryan wasn't fucking awesome, but it was refreshing to see two people getting on with out any predetermined 'spend the rest of your life with this person' stuff. They were just two great friends, and Matt quickly got used to both Geoff and Ryan.  
  
With the pair together and an added Ryan with his crazy enthusiasm, to accompany him, Geoff didn't think film club was all that bad. There were a few other people that also attended regularly, but they never quite got on with them in the same way. It was actually pretty fun, making short films with funny plots, even if Geoff hated watching himself in them after Matt and Burnie had finished up the editing. Ryan however shone on screen when he was acting and Burnie was much happier now that he had that creative outlet he'd been lacking. It was clear to Geoff that his friends would thrive in the film and media industry, and slowly Matt edged his way into that group. He took control when they were working on a project, and Geoff could tell he was a natural leader. However, he and Ryan saw a different side to him when he came around with Burnie one evening. He ended up staying for the night and they drank, ate pizza and played video games with them. Their usual tournaments got much more competitive and the weekly video game night for the dorm-sharing trio soon had a new regular who either pulled an all-nighter with them, or passed out on the couch when the residents of the apartment retired to their rooms.  
  
Burnie's plan had even worked, with Ryan now much less stressed about his upcoming graduation. Now that he was calmer a whole lot more often, Ryan found it much easier to work through all of his options and (with some help from Geoff) narrow down his choices for colleges and courses. The couple were sat together one evening, both eating the pasta that Geoff had made for dinner. Burnie had gone over to Matt's so that they could work on a script, so it was just the two of them, sat opposite one another in comfortable silence as they had their dinner.  
  
"I've decided on what I want to do," Ryan said casually, not looking up from his plate as he put another forkful of food into his mouth. He wasn't sure why, but he was a little bit nervous about revealing his plans to Geoff. Logically, he knew that his boyfriend would support his decisions, and that it would take something drastic for Geoff to leave him. But there was still that tiny part of Ryan's brain that squirmed at the thought, that drew up worst-case scenarios and put doubt in the teen's head. It told him that Geoff couldn't be expected to drop everything and follow Ryan around everywhere, that the world didn't revolve around him. Ryan actively tried to ignore those sorts of thoughts.   
  
"Yeah?" Geoff replied, looking up with a small smile. "What you going for?" 

"Theatre," Ryan revealed, though he didn't smile. Instead, his nerves were showing in his expression. He looked up slowly and found Geoff beaming across the table, eyes trained on him.  
  
"That's awesome! You'll be great at it, buddy," the older said encouragingly. "Do you know where you wanna go now?"  
  
"Uh, I think so, yeah," Ryan admitted with a sheepish grin. "I got accepted in a few places, but I think I want to go to the University of Texas."  
  
"That's awesome!" Geoff said, voice full of genuine happiness. He could remember how he felt when he made his decisions for college, the mixture of nerves and excitement that came with taking such a huge step in your life. He could empathise with Ryan, and now he had that same buzz all over again. Ryan gave a small chuckle, nodding his head in agreement.  
  
"It's pretty cool, yeah."  
  
"I've never been to Texas before," Geoff mused aloud, taking another bite of his food.  
  
"Yeah, me neither. I've only been outside Georgia a couple of times."  
  
"Looks like it's gonna be an adventure for us both then."  
  
"Hey, I wanna go on an adventure," Burnie complained childishly as he came into the kitchen, heading straight to the fridge. The couple had been to engrossed in their conversation to hear him come in, so they tried to hide their surprise at the sound of his voice. "Where are you guys going?"  
  
"I got accepted to college," Ryan explained. "UT."  
  
"Oh, that's great man! Congratulations! You're going too, huh Geoff?"  
  
"Sure I am," Geoff replied around a mouthful of pasta, managing to swallow before he spoke up again. "I'm not gonna stay here for anything, am I? What's this place got?"  
  
"Not much," Burnie agreed, serving the leftover take-out he'd found onto a plate. "That's why Matt and I were gonna move, soon as we're done with the shorts we have left for film club."  
  
"Really?" Ryan said, watching as Burnie put his food into the microwave. "Where were you gonna go?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Burnie admitted, leaning up against the counter as he waited for his food to warm. "Matt's got this dumb idea for a kung fu series he wants to do. It's gonna take him forever, but hey, he won't listen to me. And like Geoff said, there's not much here. We'd have more to work with if we went some place else."  
  
"You could come to Austin?" Ryan suggested, surprising both Burnie and Geoff a little. Of course, Geoff wouldn't mind his friends being around, but he hadn't thought that Ryan would be the one to ask them. "I could even help you out some, since I'm doing theatre."  
  
"Yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Burnie smiled, startling at the sound of the microwave beeping. "Hey, maybe you'll get stuck with us a little longer, Geoff!"  
  
"Remind me to stock up on whiskey," Geoff joked in reply, causing Burnie to laugh and Ryan to smirk at the two of them. His plans for life were looking pretty great right now. The only thing he could wish to be better would be to have the four mates that he and Geoff were yet to meet. But for now, he was pretty content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Michael and Ray here because I didn't want to make the chapter too long with three different places, so we'll catch up with them next chapter. Hopefully see some Gavin soon too!


End file.
